American actress Mary Beth Hurt, born Mary Beth Supinger, trained for the theater at New York University's School of the Arts. She then spent a year in London, where she performed with the Questers, a well-known amateur theater troupe. In 1972 she made her professional debut with the New York Shakespeare Festival, then went on to a very successful stage career on Broadway and elsewhere; she won two Obie awards (one for her work in the play Crimes of the Heart) and was nominated for a Tony for {~Trelawney of the Wells}.
Her theater work impressed filmmaker Woody Allen, who cast her in a supporting role in her screen debut, Interiors (1978), Allen's first non-comedy. This won her the co-lead in Joan Micklin Silver's Head Over Heels (1979). Hurt has remained primarily a stage actress, appearing in films every two years or so. From 1972-82 she was married to actor William Hurt. She is now married to writer-director Paul Schrader, and co-starred in his film Light Sleeper (1992). ~ All Movie Guide. 